Phantasma
by Daanana
Summary: Dominique was there. She witnessed the brutal murder of Teddy Lupin and - needing some time alone - she leaves for Paris. Once there she discovers a dangerous conspiracy. She gets help from the most suspicious people, one of them being Teddy himself.


**Disclaimer:** Don't own Harry Potter. Nor Paris. Now I could live without the first. But not owning Paris .. Took me a long while to accept that.

**Phantasma.**

_prologue._

I was there.

Teddy died on a Thursday. A black day in history you could say. Harry always called it that. Victoire said it was the end of her life. How could she ever go on without her precious Teddy? She'd rather kill herself than live the rest of her life without him. She's such a drama queen. I doubt she ever really loved him. Their relationship was the weird sort. It was almost as if they liked the thought of each other, but not really each other. I never told them this of course. Why would? As if they would listen. When Teddy died I wished I had said something. Now it was too late. That Thursday changed everything.

We worked at the same place, you know, Teddy and I. It was nothing fancy, simply a supermarket. A Muggle supermarket in the center of London. Teddy said it kept us down to Earth. Doing things the Muggle way was good for us. That way we didn't think too much of our selves, simply because we could do magic. He had forced us all to get Muggle jobs. James was a garbage guy. He hated it at first. Not anymore, though. I wondered if he was going to continue his job now that Teddy was dead? I think he would. Out of respect for Teddy. I wouldn't. I couldn't. I quit yesterday.

He had gotten into an argument at work. Some boys – "featherbrained asbo's" Teddy called them – had been bothering one of the girls at work. Teddy, being the Chivalrous Wizard that he is – was – had immediately interfered. The boys hadn't liked that. They hadn't. But Teddy never backed down from a challenge. When they told him they would wait for him after his shift was over, he answered that he would be happy to see them. That he'd wait for them. The day had flown by and he had forgotten all about it. But when it was closing time, when there was nobody left around, he remembered. Because they had been waiting for him. All three of them.

He was a Wizard. A good Wizard. He was an Animagus. A registered one. He had taught Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts for two years. True, he had only accepted the position because Victoire decided she'd do her internship as a Healer at Hogwarts, but he had been a good teacher nevertheless. He had been only three years older than I am, yet I always felt like he was a giant. Teddy had seen things, done things. We never got along very well, but in a way I looked up to him, wanted to understand him. He was a good Wizard. He really was.

But magic gets you nowhere when you're outnumbered and your attackers use nothing but their bare fists.

He hit the concrete ground four times. The first time only made him dizzy and he swung his fist into the face of one of his attackers. The second made him see stars and he was disoriented for a couple of seconds. One boy was kicked off of him and it made him happy. It gave him the false sense of hope that he wasn't alone. But he was. The third time he hit the concrete caused his head to bleed. Someone yelled to let him be, before being silenced by a kick in the face. He couldn't see who it was. Not that it mattered. They weren't helping. He wanted to call to them to call the police, but he couldn't get the words out. By the time his head hit the concrete for the fourth time, it didn't matter anymore.

He was responsive. In the ambulance he was able to talk. He looked at me, I remember, but I wasn't sure if he actually saw me. He was already so far gone. He spoke a couple of words and I asked him to repeat them. I know that he knew. He knew he was going to die. I could see it in his eyes. They were cloudy and distant, but one thing they reflected so clear. Dead.

Everyone wanted to talk about it. Everyone had something to say about it. How awful it was. Why nobody had done anything. How horrible these Muggles were. And how hard it all must be for Victoire. So hard for her. And dear Harry. Losing the boy who was practically a son to him. No one minded me. Why would they? I hadn't been one of Teddy's friends. He had simply been my colleague and my sister's boyfriend. Nothing more, nothing less. Why should they come and talk to me? Tell me how sorry they were. And how it was not my fault. Why would they do that? While it was all I really needed.

In the ambulance, while holding Teddy's hand, I felt so sorry for him. Havig to spend his last moments with me. Practically a stranger. So I began talking. I just had to say something. Anything. Everything to pierce the silence of his oncoming death. It was the least I could do. I spoke of white beaches and pretty doves. Blue skies and fields of cornflowers. Little girls and pink dresses. I said of everything that came to mind.

Somewhere in between, somewhere along the words of my prating, I felt his hand go slack. I felt the life leaving him.

I kept talking until we reached the hospital. By then Teddy was long dead.

No one ever asked me how I was doing. No one took care of me. No one opened their arms for me simply to offer comfort. It was as if they all forgot that I was there.

I was there, god damn it. I was there when they pounded upon him. I was there when they lifted him on the stretcher. I was there when he died. I was there.

I was there the whole fucking time.


End file.
